LT Sports Roundup: Girls Basketball Begins Regionals; LT Boys Split Silver Matchups

The Lyons Township girls basketball team’s playoff season is a challenge right from the start.

The Lions open with West Suburban Conference Silver Division co-champion Proviso West at 8:10 p.m. Wednesday in Hillside in the Class 4A Proviso West Regional semifinals.

LT (16-10), which finished third in the Silver, is the No. 9 seed in the LT Sectional, and Proviso West (19-10) is the No. 7 seed.  

The Lions lost the teams’ first meeting 54-47 Nov. 29 in Hillside before winning the second 57-48 Jan. 21 in front of a Pack the Place crowd in La Grange.

“We’re hoping to upset Proviso West. That’s our goal. If we could do it once, I know the girls believe they can do it again,” LT coach Katie Meyers said.

The reward for the victor is undefeated No. 1 seed Whitney Young (27-0) in the regional final at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Hillside. The sectional semifinal would be at 6 p.m. Feb. 21 in La Grange, most likely against No. 4 Proviso East or No. 5 Hinsdale South. Area-ranked Trinity (27-1) and Fenwick are the No. 2-3 seeds.

“We’re definitely in the hardest sectional in the state. It’s pretty brutal, but it’s not just our (regional) site,” Meyers said.

The Lions ended their regular season by falling in nonconference action to Willowbrook 47-38 Feb. 8 and Trinity 58-23 Feb. 7, both in La Grange.
Colleen Connors had 17 points against Willowbrook on 6-for-9 shooting with one three-pointer. Other contributors included Maggie Orlowski (7 points, 5 rebounds), Victoria Swift (5 points), Ashanti Davis (4 points), Kayla Morrissey (4 points, 4 rebounds) and Clare Polega (6 rebounds).

The Willowbrook game was part of the first season in which all of the corresponding finishers in the WSC Silver and Gold Divisions play each other after league play.

Connors (11 points with three-pointer) and Swift (6 points on 2 three-pointers) were top scorers against Trinity. Davis had four rebounds, and Orlowski and Morrissey each had three.

LT boys basketball

The Lyons Township boys basketball team boosted to its chances in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division race with an emotional home victory over leader Oak Park-River Forest Jan. 13.

On Saturday afternoon, the still first-place Huskies returned the favor by mathematically eliminating the Lions from the race 58-38 in Oak Park.

Matt Robare (11 points with 2 three-pointers, 3 rebounds), Jarryd Heath (9 points with three-pointer), Chris O’Reilly (7 points with three-pointer) and Kenneth Smith (4 points, 6 assists, 3 deflections) led the Lions (9-13, 5-5 in Silver). Other contributors were Chris Antalek (5 rebounds) and David Reed (3 deflections, 2 assists).

LT won the first meeting 65-53 behind Smith’s career-high 28 points. The teams could meeting again Feb. 28 in the Class 4A LT Regional semifinals if the Lions beat West Chicago in their regional opener the night before.

On Saturday, the Lions shot just 27 percent from the field (14 for 51), including 4-for-27 from three-point range, were outrebounded 38-22 and had just four free throws (3 for 4) compared to a 14-for-17 game for the Huskies (16-5, 8-2).

The Lions trailed 28-16 at halftime and fell behind 17 points in the third quarter before going on a 9-0 run to close to 34-27. The Huskies got the final four points of the period to take a 38-27 advantage into the fourth quarter.

On Friday, LT snapped its three-game losing streak with a 38-30 Silver victory over Downers Grove North in La Grange. The Lions pulled out the low-scoring battle by dominating the fourth quarter 13-3.

Smith (11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 deflections), Heath (9 points on 3 three-pointers, 3 deflections), O’Reilly (8 points with three-pointer, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 deflections), Antalek (6 points, 5 rebounds), Robare (4 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 deflections) accounted for LT’s scoring.